People are tired of Karunanidhi's drama: Jayalalithaa

Slamming Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President M Karunanidhi for announcing his party's withdrawal from the United Progressive Alliance over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday described it as a ‘drama’.

His announcement -- that the party was withdrawing its support to the Centre over the Lankan Tamils issue -- was a late decision, she said.

When the war in Sri Lanka was at its peak in 2009, he embarked on a 'three-hour fast drama', but neither pulled out his party nominees from the government nor withdrew support to it, she said in a statement.

"Sri Lankan Tamils would have been saved if he had withdrawn his support to the central government then. Karunanidhi did not do it. This is a very big betrayal of Tamils," she alleged.

The "second betrayal" came when the DMK did not urge the Centre to implement a Tamil Nadu assembly resolution in 2011 -- that called for economic sanctions to be imposed on Sri Lanka till Tamils in the island nation were ensured status on par with the majority Sinhalese.

She said that at the earlier United Nations Human Rights Comission’s session, India was responsible for "weakening" a "fairly strong" US-sponsored resolution and Karunanidhi had "not opened his mouth."
 
"While he squandered all the opportunities to strongly raise his voice against the Centre, he has announced his decision to quit the UPA today, which amounts to washing his hands off responsibility," she said.

On his demand for a resolution in Parliament -- incorporating two amendments sought by him to the US-backed initiative against Sri Lanka in UNHRC -- she said it will not help the cause in the present situation, as a motion in the UN rights body alone would enable taking strong action against Colombo.

"People are tired of countless dramas by Karunanidhi. While the revived TESO had failed to find support among people and students, he seems to aim at minimising the blame by enacting the latest drama. His aspirations will not come true and people will teach him the right lesson for this drama," she said.